Voting-machine.



Patehted Feb. 6,1900.

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VOTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 12, 1899.)

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No. 642,578. Patented Feb. 6, I900. C. BROWN.

VOTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 12, 1899.)

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No. 642,578. Patented Feb. 6', I900.

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No. 642,578. 7 Patented Feb." 6, 1900.

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VOTING MACHINE.

(Application filed Apr. 12; 1599.

(No Model.) '4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

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CHARLES BROWN, ALBERT LEA, MINNESOTA.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,578, dated February 6, 1900.

Application filed April 12, 1899. Serial No. 712,777. (No model.)

To whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B OWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albert Lea, in the county of Freeborn and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Voting-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in what are known as voting machines or apparatus.

It has for its object to facilitate the casting of the vote or ballot and to promote secrecy as to the character of the ballot cast and to otherwise improve the construction of the device or machine.

It consists of the combination of parts, including their construction and arrangement, substantially as hereinafter more fully disclosed, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a front view thereof. Fig. 2 is a vertical section. Fig. 3 is a back view of the same. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detail views of the invention.

Latitude is allowed herein as to details, as the same may be changed or varied without departing from the spirit of the invention and the same yet remain intact and be protected.

In carrying out my invention I employ a suitable closure or casing 1, within which is arranged a sheet-metal plate or frame 2, having slot-and-guide connection 2 2 with said closure to permit of vertical movement, as hereinafter disclosed. Said frame has a number of strips or plates 3 extending crosswise thereof, each provided with a series of vertical slots or apertures 3, the function of which will appear hereinafter. Said frame is suitably suspended in position and manipulated by a lever a, suitably pivoted in place and connected to said frame, preferably as shown, and to the outer free end of said lever is connected a cord or line 4, depending within convenient reach of the operator. The stud 4", projecting from the top of the frame 2, through which the lever 4; is connected thereto, is adapted as the frame is raised to engage or strike a bell or gong 4, suitably sup ported in place for such engagement to provide for audibly indicating the fact of the passing of the ballot or vote finally into the receptacle or ballot-box designed to receive it.

, Across the front of the closure 1 is a series of integral plates 5, each having a row or series of vertical slots or apertures 5 to receive the ballots, and above these plates are ar ranged oblong slip-receiving receptacles or frames 6, suit-ably secured to said closure to contain data pertaining to the names of the candidates and offices for which said candidates are to be voted or balloted.

In the front of or over the plates 5 are disposed vote or ballot receiving pockets or receptacles 7, adapted to be held so as to slide thereon, being arranged upon rods 8 of a sliding frame 8, suitably secured in position, to permit such sliding of said pockets or receptacles after the voter has cast his ballot toward the left-hand or from opposite the slots receiving the ballots in order to promote secrecy as to the character of the ballot cast-to, to prevent obtaining knowledge of the name of the candidate or. ticket for whom a certain voter may have cast his ballot. The frame 8, having the ballot-pocket-carrying rods 8, is arranged or supported in brackets 8 suitably secured to the closure or casing 1, said frame normally having its right-hand end extending some distance beyond said closure and its said rods provided at required intervals with fixed lugs or shoulders 8, adapted to engage and carry as said frame is actuated, as presently explained, all of said pockets after the depositing of the ballots therein to the left of the respective spaces appropriated under the headings denoting the official character of the candidates voted for. The righthand end of the frame 8 has its vertical end rod 8 provided with an eye 8, and through this guide or eye passes normally the vertical portion of a cam-rod 8 having an inclined or cam-like actuating portion 8 with a vertical extension or pendant S movable in a guide or eye 8 on the closure 1. The

vertical cam-rod 8 is itself passed through and moves in a guide or eye 8 at the outer end of a bracket 8 secured to the closure or casing 1, and between this rod and the lever 4 connection is made by means of a horizontal rod 8, braced to said lever, as at 8. It will therefore be seen that when the lever 4 is moved or pulled downward, as when alining the ballot slots or passages of the plate or frame 2 and closure 1, and upon the voter leaving the voting-booth the rod 8 will have an initial movement in the guide 8? to provide first for the aforesaid alinement of said ballot passages or slots, and thereafter its inclined portion 8 will engage said guide, thus effecting the movement of the frame 8, with its rods 8 to the left, accordingly moving its shoulders or lugs 8", in contact with the ballot-receiving pockets 7, in turn carrying said pockets to the left of the respective spaces appropriated for their range of movement under the headings, as aforesaid. Upon releasing the lever 4 the frame 8 will of course be oppositely actuated by the weight of the descending sliding plate 2 and the cam-rod 8 thus returning it to its original or normal position again ready for like use. In the opposite side of the closure are series of chutes or tubes 9 to conduct the ballots from the ballot-receiving slots to suitable receptacles or ballot-boxes 1O 10, the upper tier or row of said boxes being adapted to receive the ballots from, say, each alternate slot and the lower tier or row likewise to receive the ballots from each successive alternate slot, as will be readily learned from the identifying data thereon.

The ballots I prefer to use may be disks of suitable metal or other material, each weighing, say, one-hundredth of a pound, each one hundred ballots being or weighing a pound, the weight, therefore, of the drawers orballotboxes indicating in a lump the number of votes cast, thus facilitating the counting of the ballots, or the ballots may be separately counted instead of weighed.

In the practice of my invention the voter moves the ballot-receiving pocket 7 to the required slot, as indicated by the name of the candidate or ticket thereover he desires to vote for, and places his ballot therein, said ballot entering or registering with said slot. Upon leaving the voting-booth he or the election-judge pulls the cord P, actuating the lever 4, which will raise the plate or frame 2, so as to remove the imperforate portion of the same from opposite and bring a slot or aperture thereof into registration with the aforesaid slot, and thus permit the passage of the ballot into the opposite chute or tube 9 or 9, it finally entering the ballot-box, the voter being notified of that fact by the ringing or sounding of the hell or gong, as aforesaid.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A voting machine or apparatus having a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures consisting of two or more subseries of slots or apertures, a ballot-receiving pocket or chute, and a support for the latter, said pocket or chute adapted to be freely moved along said support opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, any one of said series of slots or apertures, substantially as set forth.

2. In a voting machine or apparatus, the combination of a stationary frame or plate having across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a vertically sliding or movable frame or plate having also across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, means to elfect the manipulation of said sliding plate or frame and a ballot-receiving pocket or receptacle adapted to be moved along its support opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, anyone of said series of apertures or slots, substantially as set forth.

3. In a voting machine or apparatus, the combination of a stationary frame or plate having across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a vertically-sliding plate or frame having also across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, series of ballot-boxes with conduits or chutes adapted to communicate with the series of slots of said sliding plate or frame, means to effect the movement of said sliding frame or plate and a ballot-receivin g pocket or receptacle adapted to be moved along its support opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, any one of said series of apertures or slots, substantially as set forth.

4. In a voting machine or apparatus, the combination of a stationary plate or frame having across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a sliding or movable plate or frame having also across it aseries of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a ballot-receiving pocket adapted to be moved along its support opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, any one of said series of apertures or slots, and a lever mechanism adapted to ac-' tuate said sliding frame or plate and to give a signal when said sliding frame or plate is actuated, substantially as set forth.

5. In a voting machine or apparatus, the combination of a stationary frame or plate having across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a sliding frame or plate having also across it a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a ballot receiving pocket, adapted to be moved along its support opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, any one of said series of apertures or slots, and a lever mechanism adapted to actuate said sliding frame or plate, and connected to, and adapted to actuate, said pocket-supporting means, substantially as specified.

6. A voting machine or apparatus having a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures consisting of two or more subseries of slots or apertures, and a ballot-receiving receptacle or pocket movable opposite to, and adapted to pass a ballot into, any one of said series of slots or apertures, substantially as set forth.

7. A voting machine or apparatus having a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a ballot-receiving pocket and means adapted ICC to support said pocket, said chute adapted to be moved opposite to, and to pass the ballot into, any one of said series of slots or apertures, substantially as described.

8. A voting machine or apparatus, having a series of ballot-receiving slots or apertures, a series of ballot-receiving pockets or receptacles and means of support for said pockets or receptacles upon which the latter are adapted to be moved opposite to, and pass the bal- 10 lot into, any one of each subseries of said slots or apertures, substantially as set forth. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES BROWN. Witnesses:

A. W. MAYLAND, H. N. BROWN. 

